Is California trampling on tribal rights?
KLAMATH, Calif. – The Yurok Tribe will never stop sustainably gathering coastal resources as it has done for thousands of years, the tribe announced in a press release today.
The Yurok Tribal Council by consensus stated that neither the Marine Life Protection Act nor any other law can take away what the Creator has bestowed on their tribe. In so doing they’ve added their voice to tribal nations within the borders of California opposing the MLPA Initiative today at the Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg, Calif.
“The Initiative is a misguided attempt by the state to stomp on tribal rights,” said Thomas
Thomas O'Rourke Sr., Yurok tribal chair
O’Rourke Sr., chairman for the Yurok Tribe, the largest tribe in the state. “Our rights are non-negotiable.”
The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative is a public and privately funded partnership between the State of California and a few private foundations to implement the Marine Life Protection Act, which was signed into law in 1999. That Act calls for the creation of marine reserves with varying levels of protection from one end of the state to the other. The Blue Ribbon Task Force is charged with making recommendations of where the reserves will end up.
The Yurok Tribe, a federally recognized tribe, does not believe California has any reason to infringe on the tribe’s ability to gather in its ancestral territory. “We would like the Blue Ribbon Task Force to do what is morally right and remove tribes from this inappropriate process,” O’Rourke said.
The Yurok Tribe has a representative on the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative’s Regional Stakeholder group, however the Marine Life Protection Act process has viewed tribes exactly the same as recreational fishermen.
“There is nothing more offensive than the lack of recognition we have received from the Initiative. We are a sovereign government within the State of California and should be treated accordingly,” Chairman O’Rourke Sr. said.
Yurok people gather mussels, seaweed, and shells for sustenance and religious purposes. The Tribe gathers other ocean resources as well. The Tribe has always gone to great lengths to ensure that marine resources are well kept and maintained for future generations.
This is not the first time indigenous Californian’s have voiced strong opposition to the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative’s attempted reach into Indian country.
Members from several Tribes interrupted the MLPAI’s Science Advisory Team meeting in Eureka June 29. The tribal people pointed out that there is no scientific data that says tribal gathering negatively impacts the coastal ecosystem, nor does the Act do anything to stop pollution and off-shore drilling — the real threats to the ocean’s productivity, they say.
The Yurok has 5,500 members, and is currently the largest tribe in California. Its ancestral territory reaches from Wilson Creek to the Little River in Northern California. The Tribe provides numerous services to the local community and membership with its more than 200 employees. The Tribe’s major initiatives include: the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act, dam removal, natural resources protection, sustainable economic development enterprises, and land acquisition. Visit the Yurok Tribe at www.yuroktribe.org.
Mother Earth Journal is a news project of environmental journalist Terri Hansen. Why don’t you follow Terri on Twitter? She’s on Facebook, too.
